The Dropbox Backup plan: an overview

The Dropbox Backup plan is currently available to a limited audience.

The Dropbox Backup plan is a paid subscription that provides all the space you need to back up one computer and one external hard drive to Dropbox Backup. Details on what types of devices are covered under your Dropbox Backup Plan are provided below.

The Dropbox Backup plan includes all the features of the Dropbox Basic plan, plus additional storage space, access to Dropbox Rewind, and no device sign-in limit.

Dropbox Backup plan features

Back up your computer and external hard drive

When you back up your computer or external hard drive to Dropbox Backup, you automatically create a backup of folders on your computer or external hard drive in your Dropbox account. After the initial backup, any changes you make to those folders or their contents on your computer or external hard drive will be automatically updated in Dropbox Backup as well.

You can access the folders, which are backed up under “Mac”, “PC”, or "[External hard drive name]" from dropbox.com/backup/all.

Note: If you’re on a Dropbox team account, your Mac or PC folder will be in your team member folder.

Learn more about backing up your computer or external hard drive.

Undo changes with Dropbox Rewind

With the Dropbox Backup plan, you can recover any file edits or deletions made within the last 30 days. Additionally, you can use Dropbox Rewind to undo a large number of changes or revert your entire backup to an earlier state, within the last 30 days. When you use Rewind or restore files, your files and folders will automatically update on to the computer or hard drive from which they were originally backed up.

Learn more about using Dropbox Rewind.

Update billing information

You can use the billing page in your account settings to update your payment method with a different credit card or PayPal account, and view invoices and receipts from your billing history.

To manage billing and payments:

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
Click Settings.
Click Billing.

Cancel your Dropbox Backup plan

You can cancel your Dropbox Backup subscription at any time. The cancellation will go into effect at the end of your current billing cycle.

When the subscription ends:

Your account will be downgraded to a free Dropbox Basic plan.
You’ll retain access to all your files and folders, as well as any content that was shared with you.
You’ll still be able to recover deleted files and restore earlier versions of files for 30 days.
You’ll lose access to the Dropbox Rewind feature.
You’ll lose access to email support.
Your account, including your computer and external drive backups, will be limited by the the storage quota of your new plan and will stop updating if your account is over that limit.

To cancel your Dropbox Backup plan:

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
Click Settings.
Click Plan.
Click Cancel plan at the bottom of the page.
Select a reason for canceling.
Click Continue canceling. You’ll receive an email confirmation that your subscription has been canceled.

FAQs about the Dropbox Backup plan

What is the difference between the Basic plan and the Dropbox Backup plan?
Dropbox Basic is a free plan that includes Dropbox Backup, allowing you to back up your computer and external hard drive, but limits the size of your backups to the 2 GB storage quota of the plan.

The Dropbox Backup plan is a paid subscription that includes the same features as the free Basic plan, but provides all the space you need to back up one computer and one external hard drive, plus access to email support and Dropbox Rewind.

Can I add the Dropbox Backup plan to an existing account?
The Dropbox Backup plan is a paid subscription that’s currently available to select Dropbox users. Dropbox Backup is available on all plans, but the size of your backups are limited by the storage capacity of your account.

Does my backup take up storage space in my Dropbox account?
With the Dropbox Backup plan, you receive as much space as you need to back up one computer and one external hard drive. On other plans, such as Dropbox Basic or Plus, the size of your backups are limited by the storage quota of the plan.

The Dropbox Backup plan is designed to offer as much space as you need to back up one computer and one external hard drive. It isn't intended to expand your local storage space. Additional limitations on backup functionality may apply.

Can I back up multiple partitions on my computer or external hard drive?
You can back up one computer and one external hard drive with the Dropbox Backup plan. However, Dropbox detects each partition on a computer or external hard drive as an individual drive. If you have multiple partitions on your computer or external hard drive, you can only choose one partition from each device to back up for as much space as you need.

Backing up additional partitions won’t be covered by your Dropbox Backup plan and will instead create separate backups that count towards your account’s overall storage quota.

Can I disable my computer or external hard drive backup without canceling my plan?
Yes. You can disable your computer or external hard drive backup, or specify which folders to back up, in Dropbox Backup. Disabling your computer or external hard drive backup is not the same as canceling the subscription.

What happens to my backup if I change or cancel my plan?
If you change or cancel your plan, your backups will remain available but the size will be limited to the storage quota of your plan. If you exceed your storage quota, automatic backups will stop.

Is there a file size limit on the Backup plan?
Yes. The maximum file size you can back up is 2 TB.

What if I already have more than one backup in my account?
The Dropbox Backup plan provides as much space as you need to back up one computer and one external hard drive. If you've set up multiple backups on another Dropbox plan, you’ll be prompted to choose one of them to maintain with Dropbox Backup. Your other backups will stop and will be subject to the storage quota of your account.

What does "as much space as you need" mean for Dropbox Backup?

The Dropbox Backup plan was designed to give you as much space as you need to back up one computer and one external hard drive. However, we want to ensure that this isn’t taken advantage of with custom-built drives or other mechanisms that are intended to back up more than a single computer and a single external drive. That means we'll support the biggest* hard drives offered by the list of manufacturers below.**

*To our knowledge, 100TB is the biggest as of January 3, 2023. If you believe this to be incorrect, please let us know.

**The below list of manufacturers offer computers and external hard drives compatible with your Dropbox Backup plan. If you do not see your manufacturer in the list below, please let us know .

Important notes:

If you signed up for the Dropbox Backup plan before January 3, 2023, you’ll continue to have unlimited storage space for one computer and one external drive.
Virtual machines do not qualify as computers or external hard drives and cannot be backed up as part of your Dropbox Backup plan.
The storage consumed by the hard drive must not exceed the capacity of the drive as it’s displayed to the OS.
The external hard drive you choose can’t be made up of a combination of several smaller hard drives (such as a RAID or NAS drive) and must be a compatible drive type. Compatible types include:
Windows
- exFAT
- FAT32
- NTFS
Mac
- APFS
- APFS (Case-sensitive)
- exFAT
- HFS+
- HFS Plus
- Mac OS Extended
- Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
- Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive)
- Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
- MS-DOS (FAT32)
- MS-DOS (FAT)